Nonpouring self-measuring dispensing container



Aug. 22, 1939. J. E. WHEATLEY NONPOURING SELF-HEASURING DISPENSINGCONTAINER Filed July 50, 1936 INVENTOR. zl ey ATTORNEYS Patented Aug.22, 1939 UNITED STATES NONPOURING SELF-MEASURING DISPENSING CONTAINERJohn E. Wheatley, Norwood, Ohio Application July 30, 1936, Serial No.93,443

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to a self-measuring and non-pouring bottleor container for various uses, such as in the laboratory as a reagentbottle and the drug store and in the medicine cabinet for use forproprietary remedies, and various other liquids, and also for use inlarge quantity storage and dispensing of liquids.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which is complete in itself in that it provides a containerfor liquid and a graduated bulbless dispensing device in the nature of apipette which latter element is so fashioned and arranged as to providefor the secure stoppering of the container and of the finger end of thepipette as well.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this kind ina form permitting the safe and sanitary closure of both bottle anddispensing pipette in transportation and in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter referred to which utilizes to the maximum the possibilitiesfor avoiding contamination of the operator's hands and the bottle as.well as surrounding objects in dispensing the liquids and which, at thesame time,

materially simplifies and speeds up the dispensing of any desired usagequantity of liquid ranging 7 from drops to liters.

A further particular object of the invention is to provide in a deviceof this kind anarrangement adapted for particularly large containerswhereby large quantities of liquid may be dispensed from the bottle inselected accurately measured quantities without the necessity of tippingthe container.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein anddisclosed in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a form of the devicesuitable for use with medicines, liquid toilet preparations and thelike, the device being adapted for ready transportation.

Fig. 2 shows a fragmental vertical sectional view of a modifiedconstruction of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a device of the inventionadapted to use in various sizes as a laboratory reagent bottle, a liquidtoilet preparation bottle, etc.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross sectional view of a device of the inventionadapted particularly to large quantity storage and for the dispensing ofhe contents in various quantities with accuracy, part of the devicebeing broken away.

Fig. 5 is an elevational View of a modified form of control or stopperparticularly adaptable to use with the device shown in- Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmental vertical sectional view showing form of upper endof the pipette of the invention whereby bulbless dropper action isbtained, this structure being applicable to any of the forms of theinvention.

In the dispensing of liquids from containers many difliculties areencountered in spilling the liquids, in contaminating the outside of the.bottle, its label and the person with the spilled contents and alsowith the difficulty in measuring out the exact quantity of liquiddesired and no more. Various forms of medicine droppers and bulboperated pipettes are materially limited in their field of use both bythe character of liquids handled and by the rapidity with which therubber bulbs lose their elasticity or become leaky.

It is known that finger controlled pipettes have been used to someextent in the laboratory in handling certain liquids and also thatvarious different forms of bulb and mechanical piston operated types ofdispensing pipettes have been suggested in association with a bottle orcontainer but each of these has been found limited by very definiterestrictions in its. scope of uses. In the present invention there isprovided a new combination including a novel form of graduated bulblesspipettewhich functions both as a principal closure element for a bottleand as an easily manipulated and accurate dispensing device wherein thefinger end or top is equipped for sanitary and safe operation with allkinds of liquids and is in turn equipped with its own sanitary stoppermeans.

In Fig. 1 the bottle 8 has a short neck 9 with exteriorly disposed screwthreads ID and an interior neck or bore tapered about five degrees fromparallelism with the axis of the bore. The pipette I2 is preferablyformed of straight cylin- 4'0 drical glass tubing e. g. of aboutthree-quarters of an inch in diameter and tapering off abruptly at its'bottom end l3 leaving a circular opening of about one-quarter of aninch to three-ei-ghths of an inch indiamet-er. The tube is graduatedfrom the bottom upwardly with etched lines and indicia 15 according toany selected form of measurement e. g. teaspoons full and fractionsthereof, cubic centimeters or other standard units of liquid measure.Adjacent its top, the pipette is adapted to fit snugly into the mouth ofa bottle 8 forming a closure therefor. In this embodiment a sleeve l6,of cork, rubber or composition material is employed, the sleeve havingan inside bore IT to tightly fit the tube and the bore I! being enlarged.at the top as at l8 to provide a shoulder IQ for seating an enlargedshouldered top portion 20 of the pipette. The top 20 tapers abruptlyinwardly and slightly upwardly to form a central opening from whichdepends a tapered inwardly extending nipple 2|. By having the sleeve i6and the top of the pipette extending well above the top of the neck ofthe bottle, the pipette may be removed or seated in the neck of thebottle by grasping it with the thumb and middle finger. The index fingeris placed over the top of the central opening 22 of the pipette and, aswill be hereinafter readily understood, this opening and its dependingnipple are so arranged as to preclude the contents of the bottle fromreaching the exterior top portion, particularly about the fingercontrolled top opening 22.

In order to provide this form of non-pouring dispensing container forgeneral use, e. g. as in the traveling bag where the container may lieupon its side, an interiorly threaded screw cap of metal or moldablecomposition is adapted to engage the threads IE! on the exterior of thebottle and to be substantially free of contact with the remainingportion of the sleeve and with the top of the pipette. A sealing plug2:1 which may be of compressible material such as rubber is fixed to theinterior top face of cap 23 and has a portion 25 of a diameter less thanthe diameter of the finger opening 22 extending in to the hollow nipple2| and tapered at its end portion to conform substantially to the angleof the nipple. This structure it will be noted provides a shoulder 26which seats snugly upon the rim or" the finger hole 22 and also wedgesthe tapered end of the plug portion 25 to seal the tapered bore at apoint well below the rim of finger hole 22. When the bottle is employedwith solutions or preparations that require shaking before using, thecap and plug structure will at once effectively seal the bottle bypressing the pipette and its associated sleeve snugly into the mouth ofthe bottle and at the same time will seal the pipette both at the fingeropening and at a. slightly distant point below it. Whenever a quantityof the contents are to be dispensed the cap 23 is removed by unscrewingit, this action lifting the plug 25 and also the shouldered topseal 26vertically away from the pipette. The mere act of lifting the releasedcap away from the body will thus normally preclude a possible adheringdrop of the liquid from reaching the rim of the finger hole 22. To usethe device, the operator now grasps the protruding portion of thepipette between the thumb and the middle finger and loosens the seal ofthe sleeve with the interior wall for the sanitary self-administrationof a dose of medicine by holding the end l3 of the pipette over, but outof contact with, the open mouth and then releasing the contents to dropinto the mouth by the mere act of removing the finger. The process isquite simple and does not require any particular degree of skill toaccomplish the safe and sanitary dispensing of liquids. In a somewhatsimilar fashion a nurse or attendant may administer doses of medicine topatients with the same or even greater ease. It will be noted that nomeasuring glass, spoon or other implement is needed because the deviceis an entirely self-contained liquid holding, measuring and dispensingdevice. It is unnecessary to rinse the pipette after useage and therehas been no necessity for pouring of contents or in any way spilling theliquid and allowing it to run over the outside of the bottle to possiblysoil or obscure the label.

The device of Fig. 2 embodies certain modifications of the device as ofFig. 1 namely that the bottle 21 which is essentially like the bottle 8of Fig. 1, has associated therewith a modified measuring, dispensing andstoppering pipette 28, and having a reduced neck 38 near its other endwhich projects above the neck of the bottle when the device is inoperative position therein, to facilitate the manipulation thereof withthe thumb and the middle finger. The tapered stopper 29 has an axialbore 32 therethrough of a diameter selected to secure the desired rateof discharge of the pipette. At this point, it is desired to emphasizethe fact that the pipette may be of any suitable diameter to provide fora desired capacity of liquid yet the rate of discharge may be controlledby the size of the discharge orifice and the diameter of the boredirectly associated with the finger hole. If the bore 32 is made verysmall, e. g. capillary bore, the contents of the pipette may bedispensed by drops. For a more rapid flow an increase in the crosssections of the bore allows for ample ingress of air to permit of a moreor less rapid stream flow of liquid from the pipette.

The top of the stopper 29 may have a wide annular seat 33 therein inwhich an interior annular ring 34 in the top of screw cap 35 may seatwhen the screw cap is turned snugly onto the threaded neck 36 of bottle27. The stopper 29 being of slightly yieldable material, the closing of,finger hole 37 may be efiected by an interiorly depending integral plug38 on cap 35. This arrangement of the tapered bore for the finger hole3'? with the plug 38 provides for the same sanitary andnon-contaminating arrangement which is afiorded by the device of Fig. 1as described.

The device illustrated in Fig. 3 represents an all glass structure suchas would be ideally used as a reagent bottle for general use in thelaboratory and which is furthermore adapted for use in handling suchliquids as are customarily kept in glass stoppered bottles. In thisembodiment the bottle 39 has a tapered neck bore 40 in the neck 4!, thebore having a ground fit with a tapered intermediate portion 42 ofpipette 43, and above which ground portion. is a reduced annular neck 44which is just below the fiat top 65. A small tapered bore 46 is providedthrough the top 45 of the pipette and a ground glass plug ll is adaptedto seat in and seal said bore. The grad uations 48 at the lower end ofthe pipette are provided according to any desired unit system of liqudmeasure. This type of bottle is ideal in the laboratory because itaffords speed and safety in handling dangerous liquids such as acidsand, because it is easy to avoid contamination of the outside of thebottle as by liquids running down the outside thereof, temporary labelsfor prepared solutions are kept clean and legible.

Fig. 4 is illustrative of that form of the invention particularlyadapted to the large quantity handling, measuring and dispensing ofliquids. The large capacity bottle or glass jug 49 such as would be usedfor distilled water or large quantities of prepared solutions etc. whichliquids would, at least at times, be dispensed in pints or even ingreater quantities. The dispensing of such quantities of liquids fromjugs, carboys, etc., is always a matter of dimculty or dangerousoperation in the laboratory because it normally involves the tilting ofa heavy container or jug. The device of the invention as embodied insuch containers eliminates these hazards and the necessity for a tiltingrack or any other equipment in dispensing the contents. The pipette 50which is of considerable diameter has a flared or tapered wall sectionthe exterior surface of which has a ground fit with the complementarytapered inside wall 52 of the neck 53 of the bottle. The top portion 54of the pipette may be either straight walled or otherwise formed and islarge enough to be grasped between the palm of the hand and all of thefingers, so that the user can manipulate the large pipette and therelatively heavy contents with facility. The thumb of the same hand isleft free to control the finger hole 55 at the top of the pipette. Aglass or other plug 56 is provided to seat in the tapered bore 5'! belowthe finger hole.

As shown in Fig. 5 a plug 53 may be provided with a finger or thumb ring59 integral therewith or otherwise attached so as to avoid any possiblecontamination or injury to the fingers by reason of the liquid contentof the pipette finding its way into the bore of the finger hole. Thisform of plug is adaptable to use with any of the embodiments of theinvention herein illustrated and. if desired, although it is consideredbest adapted to the device of Figs. 3 and 4.

In Fig, 6 there is shown the top or head portion of a pipette such asmight be used with any of the forms of this invention and this type ofpipette is provided with a capillary bore Bl below the finger hole 62 inorder to secure bulbless dropper action regardless of the diameter ofthe pipette. The bore 6! is shown in exaggerated proportions for thesake of clarity of disclosure. Any form of finger hole plug may be usedwith this device, a glass plug 63 having a ground-in seat beingillustrated in the drawing.

The non-pouring, self-measuring, dispensing bottles or containers of theinvention are not to be considered as limited to the exact structuraldetails disclosed in the several illustrated embodiments. Modificationsmay be made within the spirit of this invention and the scope of theappended claims. The devices of the invention differ from previouslyknown or used devices, in that a comparatively large capacity pipetteextends very closely adjacent the bottom of the bottle and upwardlythrough the neck thereof, forming a stopper for the bottle or containerand the pipette is arranged at its exterior and with a removable closingplug and a seat therefor surrounded by the rim of the finger hole forprotection against contamination during use and during storage of thecontents. It will be observed that the devices of the invention do notrequire to be tilted for the purpose of filling or securing an accuratemeasurement of liquid in the pipette.

What is claimed is:

1. A non-pouring, measuring container unit comprising a bottle, agraduated bulbless pipette tube extending into the bottle tosubstantially the bottom thereof and a cover means removably holding thetube in position and securely stoppering the bottle and the top of thetube.

2. In combination a bottle having a relatively short xteriorly threadedneck, a pipette provided at its topwith means to close the mouth of thebottle, said pipette having a tapered bore in the top thereof and a capmember engaging on the screw threads of the bottle neck and covering theprotruding end of the pipette, and means carried by the interior of thecap for sealing the top bore exteriorly and interiorly at spaced-apartpoints.

3. In a device of the class described the combination of a bottle, apipette member of an outside iameter closely approximating that of thebottle opening and provided near its top with an exterior wall sectionseating in the hollow neck of the bottle and serving as a stoppertherefor, said pipette having an elongated upwardly extending enlargedportion above said seating portion serving as a hand grip, the top ofsaid extending portion having a bore therein constituting a finger holefor controlling operation of the pipette.

4. In a device of the class described the combination of a graduatedpipette tube provided at its top with a tapered bore comprising anexterior finger hole, and a removable closure for the finger holecomprising a ground glass plug seating in said bore and having asubstantially ring shaped portion integral therewith whereby the fingerhole may be controlled by said plug with a finger of the hand whichholds the pipette.

5. A non-pouring measuring reagent bottle comprising a container havinga mouth, a glass pipette having an integral shouldered portionintermediate its ends for seating in and closing the bottle mouth, saidpipette graduated to measure the contents thereof, and a ground glassplug having an integral finger receiving ring thereon whereby said plugis lifted to open the end of the pipette.

JOHN E. WHEATLEY.

